by Dr. Sunny Sue Chang Jonas In 1992, May was officially designated as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.* As an Asian American, I am grateful to stand on the shoulders of those who identified as such before us and to stand alongside those who currently identify as Asian American. We [...]Read More
Communal Stories for Community Thriving
by Chandra Crane As a Mixed Thai-American minister working with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in the Jackson Metro area, one of the things that first drew me to the Christian Community Development Association is the emphasis on listening to the community in which we are serving. Healthy [...]Read More
Uvalde: 1 Year Later
by Christina Foor & Norma Ruiz Read Part 1 of this blog here. It’s been a year since the terrible mass shooting that happened in my hometown of Uvalde. Last year, I reflected on Mark 4 as a way to process the deep despair and hope I was feeling in that moment. This year, the story of the [...]Read More
The Church Can Play a Role in Healing Trauma
by Aminah Vargas, LSW Let's face it, trauma is a topic that's on everyone's lips. It's the response to a deeply distressing or disturbing event that overwhelms an individual's nervous system, disrupts their ability to cope, and causes feelings of helplessness. As a licensed social worker and [...]Read More
Listening for Change: From Food Pantry to Co-Op Market
HOTEL INC is a community development center located in the Delafield neighborhood of the West End of Bowling Green, KY. We work with neighbors who experience chronic material poverty and with people across our county experiencing homelessness. Our area’s poverty rate can be as high as 44%. In March [...]Read More
Reflecting on Monterey Park
*Note: this piece was written before the violence that occurred in Half Moon Bay. We lament the violence that occurred there as well. Reflections by Sharon Fong Mo DEAR BELOVED COMMUNITY, As AAPIs in the CCDA, we are well aware of the recent mass shooting in Monterey Park, California had a [...]Read More
Charlotte Justice Conference & why you should come to Charlotte
Keyona Osborne-Pannell & Tim Nicodemus are an integral part of the Charlotte Justice Conference, that was inspired in part by the CCDA National Conference. They wanted to take their call to justice past lip service. So, they created a conference that is contextualized, that listens to the needs [...]Read More
Jesus had different plans…
by Vola Ranaivoson In January of this year, I had the opportunity to visit with Jared and Mary Onserio. They currently live and minister with CCDAfrica in the Kibera Slums of Kenya. It was a bright and sunny day as my Boda Boda (motorcycle taxi) zoomed through the streets of Kibera as I [...]Read More